Leaf Engraved Zanpakutou
by TigerTerror
Summary: A ninja kills people, a Shinigami takes care of the killed, Naruto does both. Bleach Crossover
1. I See Dead People

**Leaf Engraved Zanpakutou**

**Chapter One**

_I See Dead People_

_Summary:_ A ninja kills people; a Shinigami takes care of the killed, Naruto does both.

_Pairings:_ None

_Rating_: K+

_Author's Notes:_ Hello everyone! I'm TigerTerror – feel free to call me TT – and this is my second time writing for the Naruto Fandom (as well as my first crossover!). I'd like to thank everyone for taking the time to read this story, and I ask that you all give me comments so I know what's liked, what isn't, and what can be improved on.  
Also, you should probably thank my little brother for making me write this – otherwise I would've been lazy and put it off for a long time.

* * *

Most people believe that Naruto's journey truly began the day he first properly met Haku. This is not correct – in truth, Naruto's journey first truly began the day Haku died.

In truth, it was the first death Naruto had ever seen – and was also the first time he had truly mourned.

It was understandable, therefore, that he ignored the fact that he could see Haku standing over his own body, looking rather bemused over the whole situation.

It was Haku's ghost who first initiated contact – by walking up to Naruto and asking, rather flatly, "I'm dead, aren't I?" It may have been out of character for him but, given the situation, he could be given some leeway.

Naruto did not reply, staring straight ahead without acknowledging Haku the slightest. Haku may have believed that Naruto couldn't see him – but he nonetheless waved a hand in front of the blonde's face just in case.

Naruto's eyes followed his hand back and forth, causing Haku to pause. After a moment, he held up a single finger and moved it around, more slowly this time. Up, across, diagonally down, across… Naruto's eyes continued to follow.

Haku slowly brought the finger forward until it touched Naruto's nose – Naruto went cross-eyed to stare at it.

"So, you _can_ see me."

Naruto twitched, but otherwise didn't react.

Now frustrated, Haku brought his hands close to Naruto's ear and clapped loudly – the blonde flinched at the sound.

In what seemed to Haku to be a deliberate ploy of ignorance, Naruto then stood up, still stubbornly looking through Haku at the body. Haku circled the other boy slowly, trying to work out why Naruto was purposely ignoring him.

Then Kakashi walked over, slowly approaching Naruto. He carefully placed a hand on the boy's shoulder – his arm went through Haku's head in the process, causing Haku to scowl.

"Watch who you're putting your hands through!"

Kakashi began to consol Naruto, voice as low and soothing as a ninja could make it, "Its okay Naruto, these things happen – I've been through similar experiences. Its okay to cry."

Haku waved his hand in front of Kakashi as well, but the older ninja didn't even blink. Slowly, Haku lowered his hand, looking at the transparent limb himself.

Naruto's answer to Kakashi was slow and quiet, "I can't cry – Haku's not gone…"

Haku's head shot up, and he dashed to stand in front of Naruto and address the other boy directly.

"…He lives on in my heart."

Haku then proceeded to trip and fall over.

* * *

Haku wasn't _confused_ per say – he was clearly dead, and a ghost of some sort – but he was lost on what exactly as he should do now. 

Seeing no other real alternative, he decided that he would follow the only one who seemed capable of seeing him – Naruto. Even if they were going to ignore him.

And so, in this way, Haku proceeded to haunt Naruto.

All through the short time Team 7 remained in Wave Country Haku could get no acknowledgment out of Naruto – the boy's face might twitch in some way when Haku said something or made a large motion too close to his face, but otherwise completely ignored him just as much as everyone else did. Even when Haku had broken down and actually _hugged_ him when Naruto had loudly proclaimed 'his way of the ninja' at Haku's own gravesite.

Well, except that Naruto never stepped through him.

By the time that the group had left to return to Konoha, Haku had begun to wonder if Naruto _couldn't_ actually see him at all, and simply had some sort of sixth sense allowing him to _detect_ his presence. In fact, he had just begun to test this theory when they returned to Konoha, and Naruto was allowed to leave and return to his own apartment.

Naruto began to behave strangely the moment he got entered the small, rather messy apartment he owned. He simply leaned back on the door he had just entered with a loud sigh, tilting his head back with his eyes closed, not moving for several minutes.

Just when Haku's concern was beginning to reach its max point, Naruto turned to look at him – not look through him as he had insistently done since Haku's death, but _at_ him, "You're not real, you're just a figment of my imagination. So _go away_ already!"


	2. Death Looks Like Chibi Sakura

** Chapter Two**

Death looks like chibi Sakura

**TT:** Hello everyone, I'm back with the second-installment! Sorry it took so long, but I went away over Christmas. I've had a lot of trouble getting this chapter out – I'm still not happy with it – but I decided that you've all been patient, so I'll put it up anyway.

Now, first things first, a few replies to the reviewers!

_A Reviewer_: I'm not convinced myself that I'll be able to keep this story worthwhile (I'm sure this chapter itself is a let down – here's hoping I can bring it back up again in future chapters). And thank you for the correction; I didn't notice I'd gotten it wrong.

_Helafol:_ You were the first one to point it out to me – thank you, I'll fix it up right away.

_Arkard:_ I'm afraid Haku won't be sticking around, sorry.

_Gadoury_: if you go back to the last chapter, you will notice that just under the title, along with summery and rating, it lists the pairings as 'none'.

* * *

Haku stared at Naruto without speaking for a long while, "So, you _can_ see me."

"No, I can't."

Haku's brow furrowed, "You can hear me?"

"No, I can't do that either."

"But, you're answering – "

Naruto covered his ears with his hands, "Lalala, can't hear you. You're just a figment of my imagination and don't exist!"

Haku threw his hands up in frustration, "Why won't you listen to me? What makes you so sure I'm a figment of your imagination?"

"Because you are – you have to be – just like all the others."

Haku's head jerked, "Others? There have been _others_? Where are they, what happened to them?"

"They disappeared, eventually. Gah, why do all my imaginary companions have to ask so many questions?"

Haku wanted to tear his hair out, and scream to the heavens that he was real. But, with some difficulty, he managed to control himself. It wouldn't do any good, and the only one that could see him would probably leave him alone if he did. "Naruto, why must I be a figment of your imagination?"

Naruto looked at him with a look that cried 'are you an idiot', "Because Haku is_dead_."

"Yes, I know, I was there after all." Haku sighed in defeat, sitting on a chair and watching Naruto – who in turn ignored him in favour of checking the contents of his fridge.  
As far as imaginary people went, Naruto had to admit that Haku wasn't too bad. Some of the people he'd dreamed up were enough to question his own sanity… Never mind that other people didn't seem to have imaginary people talk to them. Or maybe they did, and it was just so common no one bothered to mention it? In Naruto's mind, they were equally as possible options.

* * *

It wasn't until much later that Haku spoke to Naruto again – he'd been quiet when Naruto had gone out with Iruka-sensei (to eat who knew how many bowls of ramen) but had followed nonetheless. It was only after they had returned to Naruto's apartment that he asked, "Was that your precious person?"

Naruto paused, and for a moment Haku wondered if Naruto was going to ignore him. But then Naruto nodded, "One of them."

"You are fortunate."

Naruto didn't reply, instead simply changing and donning his nightcap. He yawned as he moved over to his bed, "Well, good night, Imaginary-Haku."

Haku frowned a little at the name, before his expression relaxed again, "Good night." Snoring was his only reply.

It was about 2am that, for no reason he could discern, Naruto awake again. He lay there, trying to get back to sleep, when a shadow from the window moved across the wall beside him.  
He pessimistically wondered if one of the villagers had discovered he was meant to be away, and was trying to break in and trash his apartment. It was for that reason that he grabbed a kunai from his bedside table as he sat up and looked over.

For a moment, he saw nothing. Then his eyes rested on the black butterfly that was fluttering about near Imaginary-Haku on the other side of the room. The whole scene had a bizarre, if somewhat serene, feeling to it.  
Which was promptly broken as a little girl walked through the closed window, and Naruto cried out in surprise and fell out of bed.

By the time Naruto had recovered enough to look up, the small girl in black had managed to subdue Imaginary-Haku, and was sitting on his chest, a sword in her hands. Naruto would have probably found the sight of a child playing with a sword more disturbing but, frankly, he'd grown up in a ninja village – you became desensitized to some things. "Hey, what are you doing? Let him go!"

The girl ignored him, instead lifting up the blade, bright smile never leaving her face. Naruto retaliated with his usual form of exuberance – that is, he lunged and knocked her off his friend. The two fell to the ground, and Naruto managed to get his first good look at the girl. He was startled to find she looked a little like Sakura – it was probably the pink hair and wide forehead.

The girl looked shocked. Then, abruptly, she pouted, "You're not supposed to be able to see me!"

Naruto spluttered for a moment, "Why not – why are you here?"

The girl glared defiantly, and then pointed to Haku, "I'm going to do a Soul Burial on the ghost, so get out of my way!" She lunged towards Haku, but Naruto managed to grab her foot when he tried to grab her. She sat up more slowly this time, rubbing her forehead where it had hit the ground, "Ow."

"Who are you and what do you want with the figment of my imagination?" From his place half-hiding behind Naruto, Haku sighed in defeat at the description.

"My name is Yachiru!" She held her head up proudly, beaming as if she'd forgotten they'd been arguing. She pointed at Haku, "And he's the ghost I'm supposed to send to Soul Society."

Naruto looked confused, "What's Soul Society?"

Yachiru paused, looking skyward as she tried to think, "The world of the dead, I guess."

Naruto tensed, glancing at Haku, "And why are you going to take him there."

Yachiru grinned, "Because I'm a Shinigami, of course!"


	3. Running From Death

**Leaf Engraved Zanpakutou**

**Chapter Three**

_Running from death_

**TT:** Yeah, that's right, I'm back. You probably had worked out by now that my updates are probably going to be on the sporadic side. Sorry guys, but the fact is I have other things in my life that need my attention more.

…On the other hand, I've found in the past that I'm more easily inspired when people comment me with their own ideas and opinions on the story, so I get more done in the time I have. Thus, please review and tell me what you think of the story – the good and the bad – and what you'd like to see happen next.

**Ellenlome** – that's more or less the idea; I wanted to try taking a common plot idea, and polish it from a different angle. If things go my way, this story will be different from the rest of the Naruto/Bleach crossovers, and better for it.  
**Utena-Puchiko-nyu **– …Sorry, but I'm afraid Haku will be moving on to Soul Society… Just not without some resistance.

* * *

The silence after Yachiru's proclamation stretched for an age, before Naruto finally spoke, disbelief heavy in his voice, "A _what?_"

"A shinigami, weren't you listening?"

Well, Naruto had to admit, her walking through walls trick was helping him at least consider the idea, "Why are you here, then?" He suddenly had a panicked looked, "I'm not going to die, am I? I haven't become hokage yet!"

"No, not you – you shouldn't even be able to see me." Yachiru pointed at Imaginary-Haku, "I'm here for him!"

Naruto glanced over, "What, him? He's just a figment of my imagination."

"Na-uh. He's a spirit, and I'm going to take him to Soul Society."

"Wait, you're saying he's _not_ a figment of my imagination?"

As the realization slowly began to appear on Naruto's face, Haku couldn't help but look skywards, throwing his arms up as he cried, "Yes!"

Naruto ignored this, mulling over Yachiru's words, "What's 'soul society'?"

"Soul Society is where the spirits live – well, those who aren't bad guys, Kenpachi says they go somewhere else, which is too bad because it means he can't fight them."

"So its like heaven? Wait, you want to take Haku away? No!"

Yachiru blinked, "No?"

"No, he's my friend, and I'm not letting you take him away!"

"But it's my job."

"Well, then… you'll just have to catch us first!" Naruto abruptly brought his hands together; performing a seal he could do effortlessly, "Kage Bushin no justu!"

The room was filled with orange as clones appeared out of nowhere. Someone, who may have been Naruto or may have been one of his clones, tried to push Haku – the action proved futile, as instead his arms went straight through the other boy, "Come on, lets go."

Just before all chaos broke loose, there was the sound of Yachiru, sounding affronted as only a girl could, crying, "That's _cheating_!"

* * *

Hiding from Yachiru was a lot more difficult that Naruto had expected it to be. It was as if she had Iruka-sensai's psychic ability to find him, because despite all the clones running around to attract her attention, seven tries in ten she would find the real Naruto, Haku in tow, and he would have to make MORE clones to get away from her, and the cycle would continue.

Strangely enough, no one else seemed to notice the various orange-decked shapes that were dashing about the streets that night. Well, either that, or the people who _did_ notice simply couldn't be bothered trying to give Naruto any trouble tonight. Either way, everyone left him alone. But, of course, Naruto was too busy to worry about it – actually, he probably hadn't noticed either.

He'd been at this for hours now, and Naruto was starting to get worried that he'd run out of tricks and hiding placed before the little girl got bored of chasing him. Was this what Sasuke had felt like back at the academy, with his fanclub? No wonder he was such a jerk!

In the end, however, it was Naruto had prevailed. He didn't succeed in hiding from the girl, but he prevailed. He had retreated to one of his last strongholds; one of the faces of the Hokages carved onto the side of the mountain. He and Haku had sat there, holding their breaths for a few minutes, but when Yachiru failed to appear both let out a sigh of relief.

Naruto grinned, "I think we lost her!"

…That was when Yachiru seemed to appear out of thin air, appearing on the edge of the cliff beside them, "Aha, found you!"

Naruto would later claim – many, many times – that is was an accident, and that he didn't mean it. That he only pushed her because she startled him – startled, not scared, of course – and that he would have never,_never_ wanted to send her over the edge of the cliff, sliding down to the bottom of the mountain.

Nonetheless, that is what happened. It seemed to be instantaneous. One moment, Yachiru had appeared from nowhere, the next she was gone, and he was peering down the side of the cliff, an expression of horror on his face, unable to breath.

Then came the cry of "I'm _telling_!" and Naruto felt his heart lift, knowing that he hadn't just killed a little girl. (It never occurred to him for an instant to wonder if a death-god could die.)

This time it was Haku who pushed at Naruto – not that this was anymore effective than the other way around – "Lets go, before she climbs up again."

And thus the game continued.

…Well, it would have continued, if not for the fact Yachiru didn't come after them. Naruto worried over whether or not he had seriously hurt the girl as, after a full two hours of hiding without being caught, he and Haku made his way home.

Still, even if he _had_ hurt Yachiru, at least he could take comfort in the fact that he had won, and she hadn't been able to take Haku away.

Then he opened the door to his apartment, only to find a wall of a man standing directly in front of him.

Naruto looked up. And up. And up some more, until he got past what he could see of the scarred torso, to see a strong face, with a long scar going down one eye, and dark hair sticking out at all angles. Then he saw Yachiru, peeking over the behemoth's shoulder.

Said behemoth grinned, in a maniac fashion, "So, you're the one that's giving Yachiru trouble?"


	4. Wait now I'M dead!

**Chapter Four**

_Wait, now I'M dead?_

**TT:** Firstly, I would like to apologize to everyone for taking such a very long to the update - I know very well the frustration myself, but the fact remains I do not have a lot of spare time to write, thanks to uni. I will try my best in future, and I thank you all for being patient with me.

That said, I do appreciate the reviews that people have given me, you are the people who let me know I'm doing something right, and that it is worth attempting to continue. So another thank you to those people.

_Kasek_ - I'm glad you appreciate my humour. I do intend it to remain a firm part of the story because, frankly, we need more longer not-crack humor around here.

_Tensai-Chan_ - you're question will be answered in about... 10 minutes. Or 2 seconds if you read the comments to other reviewers.

_Mojo_ - Uh, sorry for being so slow about this?

_Ndasuunye _- Sorry, why it would be good for him to defeat hollows without being a shinigami, I already have the... shadow of a plot, which means he is one.

_Lord Zander _- Unfortunetly, there was no cliff close enough.

_Alphamech_ - Currently I'm aiming for the 3rd option, where I put the characters from both anime into a jar and shake vigously!

* * *

Despite what many people in the village said, Naruto was not an idiot. But even if he had been, one could have worked out that when a man like Kenpachi was looking at you like that, sword resting casually on a shoulder, there was really only one choice of action.

Naruto slammed the door of his apartment closed again, and _bolted_ down the hallway_. _He could hear the man shout, and then what sounded suspiciously like his door being broken down, but didn't dare look back.

It turned out he didn't need to, because the monster of a man overtook his easily, and Naruto found himself crashing head first into his scarred stomach. The next thing he knew, he was flying over the buildings, head spinning and nearly blacking out. He couldn't be sure, but he thought that the man had punched him.

"_**Hey, human.**_"

Check that _nearly_ black out part, Naruto was suddenly wandering around in the sewer-like tunnels he had been in only once before, when he was fighting Haku – the place he knew better than to speak about to even Iruka-sensei. What was odd was that the fox was calling out to him, from a few corridors over. Last time it had simply given him the power without a word – possibly for its own amusement.

Understandably, Naruto was hesitant to follow the voice, but what harm could simply speaking do? Refusing to give the creature the satisfaction of seeing him cringe, Naruto walked through the passageways until he found the cage, glaring up at the glowing red eyes, "What do you want, fox?"

"_**You haven't turned into a quivering mess from the sight of that shinigami – good.**_" The beast's face lowered until its nose was about even with Naruto's face. After a moment, Naruto realized that it had put its head on it's paws, and so was laying down, "_**Under normal circumstances, I would be happy to let you die – most likely I would then be free of this insufferable seal. But these are **_**not**_** normal circumstances.**_"

"What do you mean?"

"_**I mean that you are about to die at the hands of a shinigami. Those swords can do odd things, and I am **_**not **_**going to waste my chances.**_" The tip of one of his many tails pushed through the bars of the cage enough to pull Naruto closer – despite his attempts to the contrary, "_**So, this is what I am going to do – I'm going to even your playing ground with that brute. If you die, then I'm not involved. If you win, well, you win.**_"

"Hey, wait, what do you mean 'even the playing ground'?"

"_**You'll find out.**_" And, with that, the fox demon abruptly _pushed_ Naruto with all the might the seal would allow, sending him flying just as Kenpachi, out of the dream world and into the real one.

* * *

Naruto woke up just in time to catch him as he fell, spinning swiftly to land on his feet.

Something was different.

It actually took Naruto a few moments to realize that, a part of it was that he now had a sword hanging on his back. A moment or so after that, it occurred to him that these weren't his clothes – they weren't orange! – and that there was a body wearing his clothes a short distance away.

There was only one logical conclusion to be made, "Ah, I'm _dead_ and turned into one of those Shini-thingies!"

Kenpachi didn't let the new change in development stop him; he had now drawn his sword and was coming down towards him from above, preparing to split him in two. Naruto had the sense to jump out of the way, the cement he had been moments before splitting under the strike. For the second time that night, Naruto brought his hands together to perform the seal for Kage Bushin no justu, but this time was interrupted by the monster-man coming towards him for another hit. It was by some reflex that he drew the sword in time to block the strike. Holding the hilt in one hand and the flat of the blade with the other to get enough strength to block, Naruto found himself examining the weapon without realizing it. It was a simple katana; sharpened, but with one of two chips like Kenpachi's own sword had. Wrapped around where the hilt met blade was a ring of red fur that, in Naruto's mind, was suspiciously like one of Kyuubi's tails.

Kenpachi's expression grew surprised, and then he grinned even wider than before, "Heh, looks like you _will_ be enough for a warm-up, if nothing else. How'd you manage to pull this trick off, kid?"

Naruto simply growled something that sounded suspiciously like a swearword under his breath – first the guy kills him, and then he has the nerve to mock him about it! Naruto's temper flaired, and before he knew it he had done the unthinkable – lashed out with the katana in his hands and struck a blow against the man's shoulder.

Nothing – there wasn't even a graze, much less a serious wound like Naruto had hoped. In fact, Naruto would later wonder if the man had allowed the strike to come into contact because he knew that would be the result.

Kenpachi hefted his own blade over his shoulder, "Not bad I suppose – for a 4th division weakling. Now, it's my turn."

Naruto wondered if he could die when he was already dead.

* * *

In the background, unnoticed by either participate – Kenpachi didn't care, and Naruto was a little distracted trying to fight for his life, er, afterlife – the orange-clad body stirred. Red eyes opened, and clawed hands pushed at the ground to bring itself into a standing position – if a little unsteadily, having only two feet was discerning.

The Kyuubi slipped away unnoticed, and then grinned, revealing fangs, the body was his! Now he would have his revenge on these pitiful humans that had dared to cage him! He drew up his chakra, already trembling in anticipation –

No, wait, he was trembling from the rebound shock. Apparently he may have controlled the body for now, but his chakra was still well and truly sealed away beyond grasp.

Which meant that he had only the power reserves of the boy at his disposal.

The demon hadn't felt this weak since he was just a newborn kit, the faintly remembered days filled with rabbits and tails in briar patches…

Both Naruto and Kenpachi paused, though only for a second, as there was suddenly a furious scream that echoed through the buildings. Then the battle began anew.


	5. Kakashi’s Illegitimate Son

**Chapter Five**

_Kakashi's Illegitimate Son, Dandelion-head_

**TT:** What's this? Another update already?! Yes, yes it is. But please don't get used to it, because I don't believe I can do this often. Consider it a reward for being so patient with me the last chapter. :)

Enjoy, and please review!

_Kasek_ - Yes, I'm not one for 'Naruto turns into a Shinigami and can kick everyone's butt'. If he wants to be good at anything - ninja or shinigami, then he is going to work for it. And yes, there is definately going to be a 'what do you mean I can't use justus' moment later.

_RecRaptor_ - Well, thank you for reviewing the last chapter then! Will people notice the Kyuubi is in control? To be fair, he is a fox, and unlike Kon he knows well enough it is best people don't learn of this new development. Sorry, but I'm not giving away anymore than that!

* * *

Naruto was stubborn and persistent, but even he had to acknowledge reality once in a while – he was losing. This behemoth of a man – shinigami, whatever – was stronger, faster and more experienced than he was. In fact, Naruto had the despairing suspicion that the man was toying with him – the way the little pink girl Yachiru stood in the background of their fight cheering certainly suggested so.

It took some time for common sense to overrule pride, and by the time it did Naruto was battered and tiring – he needed to run away and hide, preferably before a fourth building was destroyed by one of the blows he dodged. (Thankfully, the first three buildings had all been simple shops, and so would have been nearly, if not completely, empty at this time of day. Even _more_ thankfully a certain ramen shop wasn't among them.)

Of course, escaping was easier said than done – for someone so large Kenpachi was also very fast, faster than Naruto and the ninja felt reluctant to resort to ninjustu, though exactly why Naruto wasn't entirely sure.

He was just about to try anyway when a new voice called from somewhere nearby, "Captian Zaraki, stop this at once!"

Both participates looked over, only to see a boy who couldn't have been any older than Naruto, if that, dressed much like the behemoth. His hair was white, and Naruto found himself wondering if he was one of Kakashi's illegitimate sons – plural because, no doubt, the ninja had several at least.

Then it occurred to Naruto that this was a distraction, and immediately hightailed it. Judging by the fact that he wasn't caught by the monster-man after three steps, he could only conclude that the other boy was more interesting. For a moment, the thought offended him, but common-sense wasn't going to give up control to pride after having worked so hard to beat it in the first place and offense was replaced with a vague sense of pity for the other boy – he didn't know what he'd got himself into. _Better him than me, I suppose…_

This, of course, left him with the simple problem that he was dead. His first instinct was to go to Iruka for help – after all, Iruka could fix _any_ problem. But he wasn't so sure Iruka could see ghosts and, if he could, it might be a little distressing for the man to see Naruto as such. So he'd leave Iruka as a last resort.

He briefly considered Kakashi, but then decided he didn't want to know what the father of an illegitimate shinigami-kid did at night and promptly ran out of ideas.

No, he had one more idea – that he'd think better with some ramen in him. That decided, Naruto sheathed his sword at last and headed back towards his apartment; cup ramen awaited him!

* * *

"Kenpachi, look, it's Dandelion-head. Hiii Dandelion-head!" Hopping back to her place on Kenpachi's shoulder, Yachiru waved happily at the second captian.

Hitsugaya twitched, "_Captain_ Hitsugaya!"

"Captain Dandelion-head."

"No!"

Kenpachi interrupted, looking more than a little annoyed, "Oi, what did you go and stop me for? I'd nearly warmed up. How'd you know I was here, anyway?"

"People _notice_ when the… captain for the 11th division abandons his paperwork to go to the living world." It was only his professional, serious attitude that kept him from adding the word 'psychotic' in there.

"The kid bullied Yachiru!" Attempting to help her adopted father's argument, the pink-haired child gave the other captain a plaintive look.

Hitsugaya ignored it, "You've caused a lot of damage here,"

"It was the kid's fault for dodging!"

"Humans will _notice_ that three of their buildings and much of the surrounding roads have been demolished. I imagine that expenses will be docked from your pay."

"Feh, this is the place with that fox-demon anyway, they'll just blame that thing. Besides, I told you it was the other guys fault – dock his pay."

Yachiru interrupted, "He isn't a very good Shinigami, anyway – he tried to stop me from performing a soul burial – he should be punished!"

"What other Shinigami?"

"The one with the gigai that Kenpachi was fighting with, silly."

Hitsugaya frowned suddenly, "But Yachiru was meant to be the only Shinigami here…"

The two 11th division seats were silent for a moment, trying to grasp this concept, then Kenpachi spoke again, "Y'see? Because you interrupted, now we have a _rogue_ on our hands!"

* * *

Naruto had reached the – broken down – door to his apartment quickly. Not so quick had been his attempts to make ramen. _Apparently_ ghosts were more or less intangible, and he couldn't pick up the ramen cups.

He had only just worked this out, however, because he'd spent the first ten or so minutes (minutes, seconds, who was counting?) looking for Haku. The other ghost was missing and Naruto was more than a little sad to think that maybe the girl had gotten him after all.

That was why the _second_ ten minutes was spent in another round of mourning for his friend.

Which brings us back to the present again – Naruto decided that it might make him feel better if he had some ramen, and then he could try and work out what to do. But being unable to prepare the ramen was rather putting a strain on these plans of his – it was _cup ramen_, it wasn't as thought it were some fancy dish. At least let him be tangible for the three minutes it took to make, and eat, 2-minute ramen!

But no, whatever deities where out there had no sympathy for the ghost of someone who had once been the container for an evil demon…

Wait a minute.

If he – Naruto – was _here_, and dead, then what had happened to his body? It had probably had a building fall on it. But _what_ had happened to the Kyuubi? It was probably about to go on another murderous rampage on his village all over again! And this time it would be all his fault! And the monster-man too, for killing him, but Naruto didn't think that other people would really buy that part.

Naruto might have considered killing himself for honor, if he could die _again_, if not for the fact that someone walked through the doorway at that moment. It looked like him, excluding all the creepy bits like the red eyes and claws. That, and the fact that the voice grumbling, while familiar, was too deep and evil-sounding to be his.

Naruto looked at himself. Kyuubi, in Naruto's body, look at Naruto.

Then Naruto pointed a triumphant finger at Kyuubi, "You have a body still – make me ramen!"


	6. Seeking Help

**Chapter Six**

_Seeking Help_

**TT**: Well guys, at long last university has cut me a little slack and I was able to write something. As I've said before, don't expect regular updates from me, I have enough trouble keeping up in _Concurrent and Distributed Systems_ class as it is. Here's a little tib-bit for your patience, please enjoy. :)

_SomeRandomPasserbyer26_: I don't watch Inuyasha, so any similarities you see are completely coincidental and will _continue _to be conincidental, we don't need to make this a 3-way crossover :P

_JadeJin-Obi1_: Yes, the plot will be expanded, little by little. Patience, I fully intend to make you all hate me with numerous cliffhangers.

_Orpheon_: I will update this when I have time to write it, and not a moment before, the same as I always tell you all in my author's notes.

* * *

Kyuubi blinked at Naruto, and then abruptly leaned forward a little with the intent to bite off the finger pointed at his face. Naruto jerked his hand back quickly, and sharp teeth clicked loudly as they collided.

Naruto, needless to say, wasn't impressed, "Hey! What was that for?"

"I do not think, human, that you are in any position to be making demands of me." There was ice in Kyuubi's voice (well, really, it was Naruto's voice with a gravelly edge to it), a cool tone that would have left Sasuke green with jealously.

"Whose body to you think you're in?"

The Kyuubi's gaze stayed cool, "Mine, now."

Naruto opened his mouth to shout again, but then paused, closing it again, "How are you alive if I'm dead?"

The Kyuubi laughed, a sound of short yelps and undeniably fox-like, "You're not dead yet, human – merely absent. However, if you are in that much of a hurry, I'm sure I can be of help." It was a bluff; Kyuubi still wasn't sure what would happen if Naruto were to die yet, and he wasn't going to risk it until he could do something about the seal, but there was no way Naruto could know that.

Rather than grow nervous as one would expect however, Naruto merely became more frustrated. First some crazy giant attacks him, then he dies, then the crazy giant fights him some more, then he can't make ramen, and then some fox had the nerve to threaten him! "Alright, that's it!" He shot a fist forward to punch Kyuubi in the face -

- And went right through it. Naruto blinked, and then became to look distressed, "Hey, what the heck?"

The Kyuubi laughed again, more loudly this time, "Oh, most impressive little shinigami, I tremble in fear." Naruto would admit he may not have been as smart as, say, Shikamaru or Sakura, but he did know sarcasm when he heard it.

"Alright, that's it!" He lunged forward to pounce on the Kyuubi. His fists and kicks again simple went straight through his own body, but when he moved to head butt the Kyuubi they collided with a loud '_crack_'.

The next thing he knew was that he was tumbling to the ground with a throbbing headache. He hit the wall of his apartment and slumped there a few seconds, feeling dizzy until Kyuubi's chakra went to work and healed the wounds. Once he recovered, he jumped to his feet again, looked around frantically, but the Kyuubi had disappeared.

Naruto scowled, and he still wanted ramen! He punched the wall in frustration.

There was a dent in the wall, Naruo stared at it for a moment, then at the hand pressed against the wall, then at the jacket on his arm – it was orange, not black. He looked himself over for a few moments, before he finally decided his initial conclusion was correct, "Oh, I'm back."

Naruto reflected for a few seconds, wondering if he should try finding the Kyuubi and finished the argument, before his stomach rumbled. Beaming again, Naruto turned to go back to his kitchen – ramen awaited!

* * *

Some time later, when the sun was beginning to peer through the apartment's dusty (and, in one case, shattered via a villager's rock) windows, Naruto finally decided that he'd had enough to eat. Now that the hunger had been satisfied, and there were no giant scarred men intending to chop him in half with a sword, there was nothing left to distract Naruto from considering the events of last night. Since the Kyuubi was sealed away and silent again, Naruto didn't have anyone to simply tell him the answers.

Well, he could have tried entering his mind and talking the Kyuubi, but last time he did that he'd somehow been killed and turned into a shini-whatsit, so he was leaving that as a last resort.

He sat there on a chair at in his kitchen, the table in front of his covered in an exact, scaled replica of an Aztec pyramid made with ramen cups, with his arms and legs crossed and expression frowning and serious. He was thinking hard, but it didn't come easily to him and his head was starting to hurt. So far he hadn't been able to understand anything that was going on, except that it was somehow imaginary-not-imaginary-Haku's fault, and if he ever saw the other boy again he was going to tell him that.

Finally he came to a conclusion, "I'm going to ask Iruka-sensei for help!" He jumped to his feet, knocking the ramen cups over and ruining the pyramid, and ran out of his apartment, intent on catching the older ninja before he went to work.

Now, not even in a ninja village does school start so soon after dawn, and Iruka was still in his pajamas, enjoying breakfast and his third cup of coffee for the day when his front door was slammed open with enough force that the walls shuddered. Or it could have been that they happened to resonate with the pitch of the shout 'Iruka-sensei!' the event was accompanied by, but this option seems less likely.

To his credit, Iruka didn't even flinch, putting down his plate (though not his coffee cup) and walking into the hall to greet the panting, tired looking boy standing just in the doorway, "Naruto, did you run all the way here from your apartment?"

"Maybe, but that's not important. Iruka-sensei, I have a _problem_."

'Big brother instincts', finely tuned by taking care of ninja students and Naruto for so many years, automatically went on high alert. The tone Naruto had taken on was one that, in the past, had generally meant that Iruka was forced to act as a counselor for innumerable preteens. It was a tone that he dreaded, but could not bring himself to disregard. (However, if he had to consul yet _another_ potential ninja that it was 'okay to like guys' he was not going to be responsible for what resulted.) "I see, what is this… problem, Naruto?"

Naruto opened his mouth to answer, then paused, closing his mouth and opening it again as he tried to work out the best way to begin. Iruka was becoming more and more anxious over the unusual behaviour. However, none of the possible scenarios he thought of included what Naruto really did say, "I, well, I can see ghosts. And –"

The rest of what he intended to say was cut off and Iruka kneeled down in front of Naruto, carefully and deliberately putting his cup to the side, and placed both hands on Naruto's shoulder, looking the blond in the eye. Naruto could see sympathy, kindness and understanding in Iruka's face, and his heart leapt at the possibilities that expression meant – "Naruto, I know it's a big change, no longer being in the academy, and that I we don't see each other as much as we used to, but you don't have to make up stories just to come and talk to me."

Naruto stared at Iruka for a moment, mouth opening and closing without a word like a fish. Finally he managed to find his voice, "But, but… Yeah, right. Thanks, Iruka-sensei."

So much for that idea.

* * *

Rogue

It was a word that was not used mildly within Soul Society. It meant a Shinigami who had turned away from them, who had chosen to do what they wanted with their power instead of carry out the responsibilities as Soul Society had defined them, as they had been done for millennia.

Rogues were few and far between, but they had caused much chaos in the world. Without the help of Shimigami, spirits became hollows, hollows grew in power, the balancing act between the living world and the dead world was thrown off its axis and into whatever abyss lay outside it.

Rogues could intimidate hollows to work for them, turn spirits into hollows for that purpose, make hollows stronger by feeding them spirits, create their own army. They could wander among the living in a shell, using the spells learnt in the academy for their own means.

Rogues became lords. Kings. Gods.

Needless to say, it was a possibility that was taken very seriously. Once Hitsugaya and Kenpachi had reported the presence of the rogue (for which they were thanked and politely told to get lost), and were in turn assured that the issue would be dealt with immediately. To the council's credit, it was; it only took a moment for them to all agree that the rogue needed to be brought to Soul Society, and only there would he be eliminated. There was, after all, a precedence for this sort of thing.

Unfortunetly, there was also paperwork involved. Piles upon piles of paperwork that the two captians who had seen the rogue had to fill out, mountains of paperwork that had to be gone through before anyone could even suggest arranging a team to capture the rogue. Enough paperwork to make even Hitsugaya groan at the amount, and cause Mastumoto to go pale just from the sight of (Kenpachi had only gotten through a tenth of it before he went mad, storming out to find some hollows to kill, and let Yachiru draw pictures with crayon on the rest of the forms).

When Soul Society got a hold of him, Naruto was probably going to be in a lot of trouble. Fortunately, it seemed that there would have a long time before that happened.


	7. Naruto Sees More Dead People

So, who remembers me and this story? No one? Oh well, guess I don't have to post the chapter the-

My, that is a lot of TNT stacked just outside my door. I think I'll sit in here and post the chapter after all.

I apologize profusely for the extreme delays. University has been a real downer on my free time. On the plus side, I'm just about graduated... With a full time job lined up, so my free time is probably going to stay limited. Oh well, we can still hope for the best, right?

_Vylos:_ Its only chapter six and we're still in early story introduction, buddy. Wait a bit for the 'rules' of the universe to be established before criticising too hard, alright? One man's plot hole is another man's plot-point.

_Warsaw_2: While it is an amusing image, I'm going to try to avoid having characters directly parallel characters from Bleach. Kyuubi's probably not going to end up being a horn-dog, though he may turn out to be Naruto's "Kon" in the most basic senses.

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

_Naruto Sees _More_ Dead People_

After enjoying some time, and ramen, with Iruka – his former teacher taking both the time to lecture him on how he was a genin now, and needed act responsibly and not lie and someone make Naruto feel guilty over the fact Iruka felt guilty because he thought Naruto felt lonely – Naruto felt lost. Iruka hadn't believed his claims about being able to see ghosts. Had he ever lied to the man befo – er, wait, scratch that. Had he ever lied to the man about something _important_ befo – well, there was that scroll, kind of, and arguably that time he'd seen Shino using his bugs to cheat on a test.

But still! Iruka should have just been able to know that Naruto was being honest this time… even if it did sound crazy, and if Iruka had believed him Naruto would have probably had his headband taken away, because ninjas who were crazy enough to see things that weren't there weren't allowed to be ninjas. There was a measuring scale from crazy after all – on one end you had Iruka, the paradim of control. On the other end, you probably had Gai. Anything more than that was no longer in acceptable parameters.

Alright, if Naruto was going to be honest, he was disappointed that it turned out that Iruka-sensei _wasn't_ omnipotent after all! (There went that theory about Iruka being some sort of guardian angel sent from God to look out for him).

Without Iruka's help, Naruto needed to do his own thinking and come up with his own game plan. Fortunately, planning was an area Naruto actually excelled at, when he could be bothered to try. Unfortunately, ghosts and shinigami were more difficult to plan for than high-class ANBU specialists. Right now he wasn't even sure what the shinigami wanted, while with the ANBU it was at least clear that they wanted to string him up by his toes from the giant nose of the third hokage on the mountain like some orange booger.

On the other hand, he did know what at least one of _his_ goals was. To get Haku back. He wasn't sure how to do that, and the person he trusted with all his secrets and to actually give him advice had failed him. Another goal was probably to counter all the shinigami, who'd hunt him down when he rescued Haku.

Which brought him to the real issue. Shinigami were like ghosts. You couldn't touch them. How then, did one set traps for them? How did you hide from something that could walk through walls? How did the Shinigami find Haku the first time, anyway?

If Naruto had been Sakura, he would have gone to the library. If Naruto were Sasuke, he would have either begun training (because the 'go through things' would go away if he were stronger, _clearly_), or would have been able to find someone who would be happy to tell Kohona's favorite prodigy everything they knew. Naruto was neither of them.

Naruto's solution was to experiment.

Of all the places in Kohona, Naruto disliked the graveyards and memorials the most. As a child they had scared him. Now he was all grown-up, so they didn't _scare_ him, he just didn't _like_ them, because -

___Ohkamithatonehasits_eyeballs___hangingout!Sosoogrossanddidhejust_lick___them?aarrrghh_!

Because Kohona was a ninja village. Many of the misty figures that were here were just terrible enough in appearance to let him _imagine_ what had happened to them. The knowledge that these were not his imagination, as he had previously thought, but in fact actual ghosts did nothing to make him feel better.

It did not help that Naruto had waited until after dark to come here. The old ladies who frequented the graveyards – laying flowers on the graves of husbands and sons – grew very upset at his presence there. Naruto was many things, some of them a little less flattering than others, but a deliberate antagonist to harmless little old ladies he wasn't.

The first thing, Naruto considered, was to probably work out of there were ways or times that ghosts or shinigami were touchable. He'd done it before when he'd, well, died, but that was an option he'd prefer to avoid.

He took a swipe at Gross-Eyeball-Licking-Guy, and then tried it a second time while holding a kunai. Nope, his hand still went straight through. He used Kage Bushin and then had his clone try it. Still nothing. Kage Bushin with a kunai in hand –

"Do you _mind_?"

"What? Its not like its doing anything to you. See, straight through again."

"Hasn't anyone ever taught you to show some respect for the dead?"

"Not when they lick their eyeballs at me!"

"You get out of here you little brat, or I'll shown you how my eyeballs came to hang down here in the first place"

"Eep!"

Naruto made a hurried retreat to the other side of the graveyard. The civilian side, he assumed, because there were distinctly fewer ghosts lurking about. Those that were didn't invoke the same gut-wrenching horror, mostly because their guts weren't hanging out of their body.

From this safe distance, he tossed the kunai at Eyeball-Guy. It went through him harmlessly.

Only afterwards did Naruto realize he'd now have to go and retrieve his kunai. Nuts.

* * *

Two days of downtime to recover from the C-gone-to-hell-and-revived-as-an-A-with-WAY-too-many-demons-involved mission, and Naruto's attempts at causing any sort of effect on the ghosts had zero breakthroughs. If shinigami were like ghosts, then unless they had a way of giving themselves bodies Naruto's work was over before it even began.

Which left one option.

He needed to learn how to die.

Fortunately, Naruto ran that particular sentence through his head again before he could do anything rash. His sense of self-preservation reminded him, quite strongly, that dead people didn't get to be hokage.

Well, he reasoned, he only wanted to die a little. Like, die temporarily.

Oh yeah, said Self-Preservation, and everyone else in the world that's died didn't want it to be temporary? You only get one try you numbskull!

So… He needed to research it? And be really sure he'd only die temporarily before he tried?

Self-preservation sighed; Sure, why not?

Seeing nothing at all wrong with the conversation, Naruto considered the best way to learn to die temporarily. Haku had managed to do it a few times with senbon needles. But Kakashi-sensei had said that needles had to be very specific, and alone in his own house with planning part-time suicide, Naruto had to concede that he probably wasn't good enough to get them right on himself straight away. He was an awesome ninja, but even that would probably task at least _three_ tries.

Perhaps a few alternatives may also be in order, suggested Common Sense – a voice so unfamiliar in Naruto's head that it sounded like a body made of dried-out bones that had been stuffed in a closet long ago. Maybe there would be methods recorded that didn't involve trying to poke sharp things into their neck?

Yes, try the library! Agreed Self-preservation.

Naruto wanted to whine. He didn't _like_ the library – all the stuffy books and scrolls were boring, and the librarians glared at him, frightening in a way only librarians could be. Then he stopped and brought his hands together in a familiar seal, "Kage Bushin!" Several Narutos appeared in a puff of smoke, "Alright, you know what to do. Get to the library and search the shelves for anything that might be good for temporary dying and bring it back here. The Naruto clones gave a few whines of their own, before henge-ing into the shape of random ninjas – because librarians were scary, but less scary when it wasn't him – and went to do just that. This way he didn't have to search the library, and only had to deal with whatever texts would actually be useful.

Common Sense and Self-Preservation greeted Cunning, glad to see he had finally woken up from the long nap he'd been taking since stealing the Kage Bushin scroll months ago.

Naruto himself, meanwhile, considered what to do while his clones were searching the library. He considered going to buy some needles, but that defeated the purpose of reading in the first place. So he took a step back in the planning stage. _Aside_ from dying, what did he need to do to save Haku?

Well, he needed to defeat the people who were holding him captive, obviously. How did he do that? He tried to remember what being dead before had been like. He hadn't been able to touch anything – why the big monster of a man could, he wasn't sure, but he couldn't. So he wouldn't have any of his ninja tools…

But he did have a sword! A nice, sharp sword for stabbing and cutting and…

And the big man had had a sword too. And he was better with it, loathe as Naruto was to admit it. To be fair, he'd probably had eons of practice and that was why he was better. Alright then, so he needed to learn how to use a sword probably, and then he could beat everyone and rescue Haku! That didn't sound too bad, and physical skills certainly were better for learning that just reading books.

This was a ninja village. There had to be at least one person here who was an awesome swordsman. What Naruto wasn't sure was if they'd be willing to teach him. Unless Iruka-sensei had been holding out on him, he was a little doubtful.

But he was much better at hiding than anyone gave him credit for; successfully playing keep-away from ANBU while wearing orange wasn't as small a feat as it seemed. So, while it was more boring, he could probably be sneaky; watch whatever swordsmaster he found train, and the copy later. That would work. Excited at the thought of learning how to use a sword – because swords were big and flashy and therefore a wonderful weapon he was sad to have never considered before – Naruto jumped in the air with a whoop. The wife of his downstairs neighbors continued her chores without so much as a glance up, because previous noise complaints had been of no help. It wouldn't have mattered if she had banged on the ceiling with the end of her broom; Naruto was already out the window and gone.

* * *

On the plus side, with so many ninjas in Konoha, there was bound to be someone who was a master swordsman. On the down side, there were many ninja in Konoha. And probably hundreds of training fields, because it was a _ninja_ _village_ and so basically anything that wasn't a civilian shop (and probably a few that were) had a field number attached to it. Finding a ninja who could use a sword was a task against probability; the number of ninja in the village against the number of training fields in the village against the probability that any specific ninja was in a specific field _at a specific time_.

Shikamaru could have probably worked out what the probability of finding an acceptable target was. But he probably would have just said that it was 'too troublesome to work out a number that was that small' and dismissed the whole goal as more effort than it was worth. Fortunately, Naruto didn't even know that probability could be applied to things like finding a specific kind of ninja training in a ninja village, and so didn't have such a resigned outlook on the situation.

It was also fortunate because, while luck favors the prepared, _chance_ favors fools. People who didn't know when to quit were more likely to keep going long enough for extreme odds to happen.

It was dusk, at training field number-Naruto-lost-track-a-long-time-ago, long after any sane person had given up and gone to get something to eat, that Naruto snuck up on Hayate Gekko. He was immediately a better looking target than the man in green spandex and his students, the pretty long woman with long hair, markings like Kibas and three dogs, Ino and Choji (Shikamaru was probably there, but he hadn't seen him), and the countless others he'd already seen. This man had a _sword_ in his hand. That was a hint not even Naruto could miss.

So he hid in a tree, waited, and watched. Hayate either didn't notice or didn't mind, and continued his routine against several poor, unfortunate tree stumps and saplings.

It quickly became clear that learning to use a sword would take some work. Hayate's movements were smooth and controlled, but they were also very fast. It was hard to make them out entirely. What did he just do to get from that position to _that_ position? Naruto must have blinked. Still, Naruto had never let that stop him before. He'd just… work out stances and how the strikes went from watching, and then work out the rest on his own. Yeah, that would work! He was Naruto Uzumaki, after all, and he – ack, he'd blinked again, and now the tree stump was firewood. How'd he do that?

Alright, maybe it would take a few sessions of watching for Naruto to catch all the important parts. But the unimportant parts he could still workout himself.

Sometime later, as Naruto thought he was starting to understand Hayate's moves somewhat, they were interrupted. A woman with purple hair suddenly dropped down from the trees on the other side of the clearing, her own sword swinging down from over her head. Hayate caught her attack with a block, not even sliding back an inch by the force of the attack.

Naruto _stared_ as the woman jumped back a little, and the pair began to spar. This was very important too. It was one thing to know how to use a sword; it was another thing altogether to know how to deal with attacks from a sword while using a sword. Self-Preservation tried to point out blocking the attack of a man who leveled buildings wasn't such a good idea, but Ambition and Pride – ever the staunchest allies in Naruto's ego –launched a double-team attack that left Self-Preservation tied up and left in the closet that usually held Common Sense.

The man Naruto had been watching was most skilled with the sword than woman, and with several of those blink-and-you-miss-it moves, he managed to pin her against a tree, her sword held off uselessly at one side with his.

Then he kissed her. Naruto stuffed his fist into his mouth to not make a sound at the unexpected display. The rivetness he's had at the battle quickly began to drain away, leaving him feeling like a guilty peeping tom. Presumably, this wasn't some kind of ultra-secret, super-powerful ninja move. Also presumably, this was probably Naruto's cue to leave.

So he did. With less finesse than he probably should have used, because his retreating back was noticeable to anyone who looked for it. Fortunately for Naruto, Hayate and Yugao were sufficiently caught up in each other by that point and, in a horribly brazen display of unpreparedness, didn't pay attention.

Naruto returned to his apartment, belly crying out for ramen and head swinging with all the new moves he needed to practice and teach himself. Maybe he shouldn't bother going to sleep tonight, and instead practice? It wasn't like he couldn't sleep in tomorrow morning; he'd still be earlier than Kakashi-sensei. And even if he didn't sleep at all, he'd still have more than enough energy to do some lousy D-rank mission and training his team, right? Right!, agreed Pride. But it was not meant to be. All possible plans were put on hold the moment Naruto walked through the door of his apartment.

Naruto stared at the towering pile of books and scrolls in front of him. The pile of books and scrolls stared at Naruto. Then in a careful, deliberate movement, the pile of books and scrolls began to lean forward, promising a horrible death via papercut to any that challenged its might.

…That's right. Naruto had sent his clones to collect books that might be useful. And as intimidating as the pile of books and scrolls was (the pile of books and scrolls preened at the compliment), it was still a mere fraction of what the library contained. His clones had weeded out everything that hadn't the _potential_ to be useful on the mission. Now he had to… go through every item in the pile of books and scrolls. Himself. And try to understand what the pile of books and scrolls would probably try to make a very complicated method involving too many big words.

Yeah, well, he was Naruto Uzumaki! He wasn't afraid of some pile of _paper_! Bring it on! Having given himself an adequate peptalk, Naruto took a step forward to confront the pile of books and scrolls.

The pile of books and scrolls took offense at this sign of impudence, and promptly collapsed on top of him, taking care to make sure all the heaviest books landed squarely on his head.

"Taking advantage of the heavy damage Pride had suffered in the recent attack, Self-Preservation managed to escape from the closet in Naruto's head to smugly tell everyone 'I told you so'. _**The other aspects of Naruto's superego promptly threw him back into the closet for saying the forbidden sentence. He was not mourned…**_"

Kyuubi sighed in boredom, and discarded the puppets – all accurate representations of manifestations of psyche – again. What was the point of narrating the host's subconscious thought processes if there was no one to watch?

He'd had one wonderful, beautiful, _magnificent_ taste of semi-freedom for the first time in nearly thirteen years. He couldn't just go back to practicing for the demon's bicentennial talent contest after that! It didn't matter if it was inside a pathetic, weak, prepubescent shell, it was still a _sniff_ of freedom, a blessed reprieve from the sewer he found himself in. He wanted _more_!

But, of course, Kyuubi was a kitsune. And, nine tails or not, kitsune did not specialize in brute force. No, their mastery was in illusions, in deception, in _trickery_. So, if he wanted another moment of freedom, he'd find a way to get it.

Kyuubi retrieved the Naruto's Pride puppet from where he'd discarded it, and began to plan…


End file.
